Review of the Audioquest Nighthawk Headphones

I've posted my review of the Audioquest Nighthawk Headphones on my Facebook page: John Crossett - Audio Writer. Click the link below to read it and let me know what you think. Also, feel free to "like" the page while you're there. Thanks.

https://www.facebook.com/JohnMauriceCrossettIii/posts/303608523096082:0

 

Excellent review!

 

These look exciting. Thanks for your review. The amount of info at the Audioquest site is remarkable - I'd suggest everyone review it thoroughly.

 

Great review!

I ordered my pair today and I will drive them with new Schiit Jotunheim.

 

Crap! Did your NightHawks already ship? If not, cancel your order and wait for October 1st. I can't say anymore, but trust me on this; you will be very thankful that you waited.

 

You do realize its October 23rd now right? What was supposed to happen on the 1st?

 

Glad you liked it. Thanks. And enjoy. I'm sure you will.

 

Can you give us more details ?

Are you talking about the new pads ? The new closed-back NightOwl ?

 

I meant Nov 1st. Whoops. But I promised not to tell. It's not a physical change in the NightHawks, and it doesn't do anything for current owners, but for future owners. But I really can't tell, so I probably shouldn't have said anything. Know that I'm acting out of total altruism, though.

PS - Not the NightOwl.

 

Ok thanks

 

Yes, I can't wait

 

I'm a Grado guy, but I HAVE been browsing the upper-end headphone market to see if anything interests me. I'm not sure if electrostatics or planar-types are for me, but Stax is on my list of possibles, at least from a brand standpoint. Not even sure what type of headphone the Audioquests are. They seem to have the basic woofer/tweeter design rather than an electrostatic or planar-type approach.

What I'm after most of all is MUSICALITY. They have to move me. And equally-important to me is TIMBRE. In other words, the headphones must be incredibly-good at making a guitar sound like a guitar, a horn like a horn, a voice like a voice, plus the drums, percussion, etc. Guitar tone is very-important to me, especially vintage guitar tone, but basically, I like headphones and speakers that make the instruments/voices/etc. sound spooky-real (especially those instruments/voices that are heard in the various types of music I like most). This must be a standout feature for any headphones/speakers in my consideration. Timbre and musicality. Any decent pair of headphones in the $500-and-up range should have no trouble supplying a flat, well-extending response with solid, accurate, dynamic bass and smooth, clear highs, but unfortunately, timbre and musicality are two aspects of sound quality that are definitely subject to interpretation.

 

Well, what are you using as a DAC? That's going to have one of the biggest impacts of decoding accurate timbre before it even reached the cans.

That said, the NightHawks can never be considered "hi-fi." Musical, yes, but not a microscope into the music.

 

My bet is that they will come with a new cable and with the new pads after Nov 1st

 

I was not a fan of the nighthawks. Here's my 4 way comparison between the Nighthawks, Audeze, Grado and HIFI Man400i's.

4 headphone comparo, $300-$700 »

 

Maybe they will sound better with the new ultrasuede pads

 

You should definitely try a burned in pair of NightHawks. They simply make music sound like music - not hi-fi. Check out the reviews here on Head-Fi (modesty prevents me from tooting my own.....lol), I think you'll find that a universal theme.

 

Eh, no, not that, but let's just say you will be very, very pleased. No joke. I can promise you that.

If you order before Nov 1st you'll be kicking yourself. I can promise that, too! Haha

 

lol

Ok so I will wait for the price drop next week

 

I will second JCMIII. The NH is a headphone for folks that prefer or do most of their listening to loudspeakers. I have listened to a number of the high end phones and they are a different presentation much more forward and hyper-detailed. That's a perfectly fine experience but the NH just makes you want to continue listening and I can give no higher praise than that. Regardless of your belief in burn in if you want to try a pair do yourself a favor and make sure they have more than. 150 hours on them.

 

Personally, I didn't care for the NightHawks, but I can appreciate what they do. No doubt. But I'm more into hyper detail for my headphone experience.

Interestingly enough, Rob Watts, the brains behind critically acclaimed Chord DACs, listens to NightHawks almost exclusively, claiming their sense of depth is unparalleled. I thought they were bloomy, but deep? Yes.

 

So the cat is out of the bag..

AudioQuest will announce the new NightHawk Carbon soon.

AudioQuest Introduce the NightOwl at Indulgence »

 

Well, that's one cat, but not the Nov 1st cat. Heh.

 

Now they will have to get rid of the old models

$400 ?

 

I don't think the Nightowl will replace the Nighthawk, the owl is a closed back design and the Hawk is open back. Two different animals-err-birds of a different feather I mean.